Dear friends and neighbors,
We’ve got some good news to share — page applications for the 2026 session are now open!
Applications are open for pages!
One of my favorite parts of the legislative session is welcoming young people to serve as pages in the Senate, and applications for 2026 are open! This exciting opportunity allows Washingtonians ages 14-16 to spend a week immersing themselves in the legislative process and meeting other students from across the state. It’s a great way to learn about state government, the legislative process, and the issues we grapple with. Many elected officials even got their start as pages!
Legislators can only sponsor a limited number of pages, so I encourage folks to apply sooner rather than later. You can apply and learn more here.
With Analea from Capital High School, one of the 8 pages from our district who joined me last session.
Childcare affordability
I know that affordability is one of the biggest challenges facing Washingtonians, particularly the cost of childcare that many young and growing families struggle with. It’s so important in almost every way you can imagine: kids need childcare and early learning to develop essential skills as they transition to kindergarten, and parents need coverage so they can go to work.
I recently visited a childcare facility in Lacey to talk with the staff and managers about what changes they need from state government to offer high-quality care at a price people can actually afford, and I read a story to the children while I was there! It was a lot of fun.
We got some good news for childcare affordability this week, when the Ballmer Group and Gov. Bob Ferguson announced a partnership to provide philanthropic funding for up to 10,000 additional slots for children in our Early Childhood Education & Assistance Program for the next ten years. This generous contribution and public-private partnership will expand access to key early learning opportunities for Washington’s children and provide benefits for generations to come. When we invest in early learning and childcare – when we invest in kids – we invest in the future of our state.
Childcare is a notoriously tough business. One of the big challenges is hiring enough qualified workers who can provide kids with the close attention and a high-quality education they deserve. The facilities can be expensive, too. In last year’s parking reform legislation, I ensured we addressed the excessive number of parking spaces a childcare facility could be required to include in a new building. The Washington Childcare Association supported that bill and shared a story at the committee hearing about a childcare center project in Clark County that had to be entirely scrapped because a local law required two parking spaces for every employee — far more than needed. As a result, the community lost care for more than 100 children. I’m glad my bill helped fix that issue, but there’s still so much work to do. Washington’s children and families deserve better.
What you need to know for the legislative session
Since the 22nd District is the seat of state government, I have some of the most attentive and engaged constituents of any legislator in the state. For folks who want to track bills, budgets, and our legislative work more closely, we have a lot of informational resources on the leg.wa.gov website that can help you advocate for the bills and issues most important to you, including:
- The process for how a bill becomes a law
- How to read a bill
- How to comment on a bill before the Legislature
- How to testify at a committee meeting
If you have any questions about a bill or legislative process, feel free to reach out at Jessica.Bateman@leg.wa.gov — my staff and I can help you. And if you’re planning to visit the Capitol as a part of your advocacy, please send me an email — our schedules are busy, but I always appreciate meeting visitors when I can.
Thanks for reading as always, and I look forward to staying in touch!
In service,
– Jess
